


Cabin Fever

by cardinalstar



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Thace Lives, Career Ending Injuries, Galra Mini Exchange, Gen, Implied Thulaz if you squint, Injured Character, Missing Scene, The Holts - Freeform, The Search For Matt Holt, blade of marmora, pre-season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-10
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-13 17:50:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11765196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cardinalstar/pseuds/cardinalstar
Summary: Thace survived the power core explosion on Zarkon's ship, but his injuries have made it unlikely that he will be able to serve the Blade of Marmora as a field operative in the future.  Frustrated by the pace of his recovery and by the limitations of shipboard life, Thace is wandering the castle at night when he finds a Paladin in need of a listening ear and is relieved to find that there are still plenty of ways for him to further the cause.(Written for the 2017 Galra Mini Exchange.)





	Cabin Fever

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, new fandom! I've read a lot of Voltron fic, but this is my first time writing it. I'm hoping to eventually be back with some longer fics, but for now I'm excited to be sharing this. I wrote this ficlet for my part in the Galra Mini Exchange and decided to post it here as well as on Tumblr since I'm happy with how it turned out. 
> 
> This fic takes place before the events of season 3 so it technically doesn't contain spoilers, but if you want to be 100% certain of avoiding them, I'd recommend proceeding with caution! Aside from Thace being alive, everything else is canon-compliant. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading this!

Nights were Thace’s favorite time to be onboard the Altean ship.  Much of the bustle and activity died away as the hour grew late, and the soft glow of the castle’s evening lights was easier on the eye than the daytime lights.  It was easier to find peace and quiet, if that was what you preferred.  Stargazing, which had not been possible on the Empire’s battle cruisers, was a pleasant pastime that left plenty of opportunities for quiet, solitary reflection.  

The late hour had other, less recreational benefits as well.  Unless there was an alert, the majority of the castle’s active inhabitants were Thace’s fellow Blades, who had maintained their preference for a largely nocturnal lifestyle even though the other species onboard the ship preferred to work in the daytime.  

Accustomed as they were to secrecy and privacy, the Blades who had begun traveling with Voltron following Zarkon’s defeat had taken time to adjust to their more visible role in the resistance movement.  The change in tactics had hit the younger recruits the hardest; most of them had been fresh from their initiations and training, and had been given little opportunity to temper the Blade’s culture of secrecy with experience in the field.  

The dramatic shift in their circumstances had worked in Thace’s favor, once he had largely recovered from his near-fatal role in the mission to sabotage Zarkon’s flagship.  He might not be able to participate in dangerous away missions any longer, but Kolivan had made it clear that Thace’s experience and contributions were valued, particularly as the Blade adjusted to its new role in the war against Zarkon.   

Wandering the darkened ship also gave Thace ample opportunity to adjust to the changes in his depth perception since the explosion.  Altean healing pods were miracles of medical science, but they couldn’t regrow a missing eye.  Coran seemed optimistic about the possibility of Thace recovering the full scope of his hearing with repeated sessions, but Thace was less certain.  He’d opted instead to adapt to his new circumstances, and prescribed himself a regimen of physical therapy that would probably have given Ulaz an aneurism, if he’d still been alive.  Nobody could stop Thace from sparring against the Gladiator on its maximum-difficulty setting if they were all asleep.  And with fewer individuals awake to observe his progress, there was a lower likelihood that anyone would observe him if he misjudged a distance and tripped over a doorframe, or barked his shins on the steps leading to the observation deck

Tonight, Thace was taking a break from the Gladiator - he hadn’t been able to program it to focus its attacks on his blind side, and it was frustrating him.  Instead, he had planned to take a leisurely stroll through the shuttle bay, avoiding the many low-hanging obstacles, before joining a tactics briefing that Kolivan was hosting.  But he had deviated from his intended routine when he noticed that the lights in the training deck were on, and had gone to investigate only to spot the tiny figure of Pidge hunched over one of the computer consoles.  For a moment, Thace thought the Green Paladin had simply fallen asleep at her work, but the muttered curse that reached his good ear told him that Pidge was both awake and annoyed.  

Thace paused at the entrance to the training deck, uncertain as to what his next move should be.  He wanted to ask  _ why _ Pidge was still awake, but he wasn’t sure how the Green Paladin would react to his sudden presence on the training deck, particularly if he startled her when she was already in an agitated emotional state.  He had been informed that he had a  _ catlike tread  _ when he’d inadvertently ambushed Hunk in the kitchen; several discreet inquiries later, Thace had learned that he’d been compared to a small Earth predator renowned for its stealth and cunning.  He’d been flattered, but he had no desire to startle Pidge.  He was far more interested in learning why Pidge was working after hours, particularly since the other paladins and the Alteans were already sleeping.  

“Who’s there?” Pidge said, turning her head slightly in his direction.  

Thace sighed internally.  So much for stealth - he hadn’t been on an away mission in so long, he must be losing his touch, in spite of all the training he’d been doing.  “It’s me,” he said, stepping onto the training deck.

“Oh.  Thace.”  Pidge blinked up at him from behind a pair of wire-framed glasses.  “I wasn’t expecting you.  I thought you might be Keith.  He likes to wander around at night.” 

Thace nodded.  It didn’t surprise him; with his part-Galra ancestry, it made sense that Keith would prefer a more nocturnal sleep schedule than a full-blooded human.  He decided not to mention that Pidge was also wandering around at night.  “You seem frustrated with your work,” he said, wanting to ask about the problem but uncertain about whether his prying would be welcome.  

“Yeah,” Pidge said, making a face.  She tilted the monitor so that Thace could see; recognizing the gesture as an invitation, Thace peered down at the screen.  

His eyebrows rose at the slightly-grainy image on the on the screen in front of him.  The picture looked like a frozen fragment of a video feed; Thace picked out several haphazardly-dressed individuals of varying species before his eyes settled on the human in the upper right corner of the image.  Even with Thace’s limited sample size of variation between humans, he couldn’t help but notice that the individual on the screen looked remarkably similar to Pidge.  “Is this a relative of yours?”

“Yeah.  That’s my brother, Matt,” Pidge said, biting her lip as she looked down at the screen.  “He was captured by the Galra the same time Shiro was, and I’ve been looking for him.  I found this footage when we were breaking Slav out of Beta Traz, but I have no idea who he’s with!” she continued, slamming the palm of her hand against the desk.  “The castle’s databases don’t have anything on these other guys.”  

Thace tilted his head, considering the problem.  “Is it possible that the ship’s records are outdated?”  From what he’d gathered, the Altean ship  _ had  _ been in stasis for ten thousand years of turbulent intergalactic history.  It seemed fairly likely that there would be some gaps in the Paladins’ intelligence.  

Pidge shrugged one shoulder.  “It could be.  Allura told me that the ship’s record banks have been updating themselves whenever we’ve flown through a sector and encountered new data.  But maybe,” she continued, sitting up straighter in her chair, “the people Matt’s with are from a sector we haven’t visited yet!”  

But as quickly as her flash of enthusiasm appeared, it vanished.  She glowered at the console.  “That doesn’t help, though.  It isn’t like I can go ‘Hey Allura!  Mind if we detour through uncharted space so that we can look for data on the aliens who might have my brother?’”

Thace decided that he disliked seeing Pidge in such low spirits about her search for her missing relative.  If Ulaz’ past transmissions were anything to go by, it had been over a year since Matt and Shiro had been taken by the Empire.  For Pidge to still be searching, after such a long absence, was a mark of her tenacity.  “It’s possible that some of the Blade’s intelligence might be useful,” Thace said, thinking of the immense record banks back at the main headquarters.  Most of the information was military in nature, related to the positions and strengths of the Empire’s fighting forces, but there was some cultural data within their record banks as well.  Ulaz had helped maintain those records before his posting as an undercover science officer had taken him away from headquarters, and he’d vociferously defended the importance of his work.   _ One day, when the war ends, we will need a record of what once was,  _ he’d said during one such conversation.   _ Otherwise there will be no way of comprehending the full scope of what has been lost.   _

Thace’s good ear didn’t twitch at the thought of Ulaz, which was a relief.  He knew the Paladins would sympathize with his grief, but he’d been feigning indifference and detachment for so long that he wasn’t sure how to stop.  

Fortunately, Pidge didn’t seem to notice the solemn direction his thoughts had taken; if anything, she looked happier than she had when Thace had first entered the room.  “I didn’t know the Blade of Marmora had those kinds of records!” she said.  “Thanks, Thace.  That would really help.”  

“There might not be any new information in our archives,” Thace pointed out, not wanting to dampen Pidge’s enthusiasm but unwilling to give her false hope.  “I will do everything I can to locate useful data, but it’s possible that nothing I find will be of use to you.”  

“I know,” Pidge said, looking determined.  “But there’s still a chance, and that’s all I need.”  

As he walked out of the training deck, Thace resolved that he would devote more of his time and attention to searching for the Paladins’ missing teammates.  Pidge’s dedication to finding her brother was - moving.  He fervently hoped that her quest for answers wouldn’t be in vain, and he would do his part to ensure that she had every chance of succeeding in her search.  

Though she hadn’t mentioned him directly, Thace had also felt the specter of the missing Black Paladin looming over his conversation with Pidge.  They’d done all they could to look for him, but perhaps it wasn’t just the Blade of Marmora who could benefit from Thace’s knowledge of the Empire’s inner workings.  He couldn’t go search the stars for Matt or Shiro, at least not yet, but he could do his part to point others in the right direction.  

The quiet life didn’t suit him, but Thace could tolerate it for the time being, as long as he was still able to be useful.  


End file.
